Today’s DIY was inspired by countless wedding submissions with the wedding dress shot on an ugly plastic hanger. I know you brides have bigger things to worry about than a pretty hanger and sometimes you just forget to use a nicer one. But seriously, that ugly plastic hanger ruins a gorgeous bridal gown image. You spent how much on a dress and then put it on an ugly hanger? So today, I’m sharing an original DIY created by me to end this problem. And the grand total cost of the hanger DIY is under $10. So please, PLEASE stop using ugly plastic hangers… Photographers and event planners, having a pretty hanger in your bag of tricks is a great idea too!
So, here’s how to get this, from those ugly clear plastic hangers that we all have a million of in our closet. Here’s what you’ll need:
Materials needed:
- gold spray paint
- 2 spools of sequin elastic ribbon (I got mine at Joann Fabrics)
- Aleene’s Tacky Glue
- scissors
- an ugly plastic hanger, of course!
- Step 1: spray paint your ugly plastic hanger with the gold spray paint. It’s looking prettier already! Let it dry completely.
- Step 2: Starting at one end, wrap the sequin elastic ribbon around the hanger, squeezing a line of glue on top of the hanger before you wrap the ribbon to hold it in place. Take your time and make sure you are covering the hanger completely. You will run out of ribbon on a spool before you finish, so try to space it out so you have the other end around the middle.
- Step 3: After you’ve completely covered your hanger, use the remaining ribbon to cover any bare spots and tuck the end under a layer of ribbon, making sure you have some glue to keep it in place.
- Step 4: Hang your dress, cause you’re done! (another tip: wait to cut the lingerie straps from your dress until your dress shots have been taken. Then you can snip them off before you walk down the aisle)
Isn’t that so much prettier than an ugly plastic hanger? And it’s so easy too. Now mine’s not perfect – since I was making it as we were photographing the DIY (I should have pre-made a perfect one for the final photographs, but I didn’t) I didn’t cover the ends of the hanger completely because waiting for the glue to dry would have taken more time. But that’s why spray painting it gold beforehand is so key – it makes the parts of the hanger that do show look so much better.
And if you aren’t a bride, you still deserve a gold sequin hanger! I use mine for hanging my favorite dress for a night out. And I love the idea of giving this as a gift for a bride, or making one with a baby hanger to display an adorable outfit for your favorite little girl or baby girl-to-be.
So help me kill the ugly plastic hanger for good by sharing, pinning, and making pretty hangers. Because don’t all of our eyes deserve to look at prettier things?
Oh, and if you’re dying to know to have that green dress for yourself, you can buy it here (I have it in several colors because it is the cutest and most comfy dress I’ve bought in years!) You can see me wearing it here and here.
Photos by Amy Stone Photography. Amy Stone is a member of our Lovely Vendor Guide. If you’d like to be considered for our handpicked vendor guide, apply here.
This is adorable and looks relatively easy! Definitely going to try this. 🙂
ever since you left the comment saying you were doing a DIY sequin hanger soon I’ve been excited to see what you had in store! so super fun & sparkly!
yay! glad you like it. I’ve had it waiting to be made and photographed for months, but only finally had time last week to do it. RIP ugly hangers 🙂
Love! I think it would be totally acceptable to have an entire closet of these here in Palm Springs!
Katy, I think these are very Palm Springs style too!
Ooh, what a fun idea! Loving this!
Oh my goodness, what a fun project!! Pretty sure I will be making these for all sorts of occasions from now on!
Love this! What a cute idea, and a hanger truly worthy of a wedding dress. I’ve always wondered why you’d put a dress you spent hundreds if not thousands on, on a cheap and ugly plastic hanger.
YES! omg the ugly plastic hanger is uh! I don’t even understand how it can get by people. I can’t even bring myself to pin a gorgeous dress if I see one of those horrid hangers. I realize this might be extreme – but seriously this is one of my pet peeves – along with wrinkles in table linens. Thanks for this post!!! It needs to be seen by all.
Super excited to try this! I don’t have a wedding dress to hang well not yet at least 😉 but this will look gorgeous in my closet!
Ps your dress looks beautiful I’m loving the emerald green.
How much sequins for ONE hanger?? I don’t know how much to buy…thank you for DIY you rock!!!